


death does not part us

by Losha



Category: Bleach, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Author is self-indulgent, Changing Tenses, Character Study, Concept Fic, Crossover, Does death even count in Bleach?, F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Look it's Bleach what did you expect?, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, Moving On, POV Minor Character, Running Away, The Author Regrets Nothing, Timeline What Timeline, What is Dead May Never Die, i'm sorry i tried
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 11:18:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Losha/pseuds/Losha
Summary: Tsuna doesn’t think much of it when Nana tells him Papa is with the stars. His mom’s side of the family are all dead and Tsuna sees them every other month just fine. (A 3-part concept fic.)Or,being considered dead doesn’t excuse you from familial duties.Or,his student’s mother talks to herself and Reborn is concerned.Or, once Nana was a girl called Yuzu.





	death does not part us

**I.**

Once Nana was a girl called Yuzu.

Before she moved away from Karakura for school, before she ever met and married Iemitsu, she lived in a town called Karakura. Karakura was… unique. Not in the same way that Namimori was unique with all its secrets, but similar. The monsters in Karakura weren’t metaphors like they are in Namimori. They were real. It took until high school for Yuzu to be able to see them the way Karin and Ichigo could, but she knew long before then what a hollow was, knew what it felt like to be thrown around by one. But she couldn’t fight them, didn’t have the reiryoku or reishi necessary to do more than see, didn’t have the drive to train with Urahara that Karin felt.

So she left.

Yuzu went to school away from both Karin and Ichi-nii and it was fine all the way up until it wasn’t. 

She was in her second year of university when Karin died.

Their dad cashed in his pardon to return to Soul Society in a bid to find Karin’s soul and look after her. Ichi-nii began flitting back and forth between the worlds at an even faster rate than he had before. One day he’d be in Karakura, another in Soul Society looking for Karin, another in Hueco Mundo, another he’d pop in to visit Yuzu and tell her at first about their progress and then, once Karin was found, about her acceptance into the Shiba clan and enrollment into the Shinigami Academy. All of this on top of his residency.

Yuzu, who was still in school at this point, applied for a leave of absence and returned to her family home. Hoping, perhaps, that by placing herself nearby and seeing to the burdens of the household that she could ease her brother’s struggles. But it had the opposite effect. Oh, Ichigo began eating better and his hygiene never quite suffered thanks to the rules of the hospital, but she didn’t need to see Kon’s sheepish expressions on her brother’s face to know how little rest he was allowing himself. Having Yuzu in Karakura again… Rather than setting him at ease, it seemed to have only increased her dumb big brother’s need to make sure she was safe.

When she realized this, Yuzu looked at her only living family member stubbornly working himself into his own grave and decided that enough was enough.

She had tried supporting him, she had tried convincing Ichigo to just _stop_ already, but Ichigo blamed himself for failing to save Karin even though _of course_ he wasn’t there when she died, he had his _own_ life. He wouldn’t listen to Yuzu - _Yuzu_ , who _lost her twin_ , who lost _more_ than Ichigo had because _unlike him_ she couldn’t just go to Soul Society and see Karin whenever she wanted. She was at her wit’s end trying to put Ichigo’s grief before her own, and he wouldn’t even listen to her. Worse still, living with him as she was, Yuzu could see that Ichi-nii was spiraling. He was pushing away and clinging to his connections at once and, if something didn’t change, was heading for burnout.

Ichigo wouldn’t listen of his own volition. So Yuzu took the choice away from him.

Maybe, just a little, she also did it for herself.

The reasons didn’t really matter. Whether it was to save Ichigo or herself or both, Yuzu still walked away again.

***

“He’ll be upset,” Urahara said, eyes shaded by his hat.

He had acted surprised to see her, but Yuzu can see the tip of a packet tucked against his chest now that they are sitting, sharing a cup of tea. It makes Yuzu feel a little sad that Urahara predicted her running away like this, but she is glad as well. Urahara really is everything Ichi-nii always said about him, isn’t he? And if he is helping her, doesn’t that mean he sees what she sees?  
A clever man like Urahara would surely stop Yuzu if he didn’t see the worth in her actions, wouldn’t he? Seeing the edges of that packet... It brings Yuzu a sense of peace with her decision that she almost needed even more than the paperwork for a new identity.

“He has that right,” Yuzu acknowledged. “But, Urahara-san, I would rather Ichi-nii be mad at me than kill himself like this. He’s trying to do too much. I know he can do impossible, amazing things, and I know he saved you guys a lot years ago, but… But he’s still just a human, if only for now. So please - would you help my brother remember that when he is ready to listen?”

“That may not be any time soon,” Urahara pointed out, “as your brother is very stubborn.”

“Mm. He is.” Yuzu frowned briefly. “I’m sorry, Urahara-san. I know I am asking a lot of you.” She hopes Ichigo will forgive him, almost more than she hopes he will forgive her.

“Do not worry yourself,” the shinigami dismissed, lowering his head further until she could hardly see his face at all. “It is nothing I would not do anyway, Kurosaki-san.”

“Thank you.”

Yuzu left the shop with new paperwork and renewed confidence, but she could not help one final look back.

So many years have gone by since her brother and sister got caught up in the affairs of Soul Society, yet the Urahara Shouten and its master stand seemingly timeless. Were it not for his scars, Urahara Kisuke would look almost the same as the day she first stepped through the doors of his shop...

Shinigami, she thought as she turned away, and those others who are touched by death really are such strange, sad beings.

From the bottom of her heart, she wants better for Ichigo.

***

So it was that Kurosaki Yuzu left Karakura forever.

So it was that Akabane Nana found her way to Namimori and never looked back.

(Well, almost. She threw many an incredulous glance backwards after opening that packet on the bus out of Karakura. Akabane Nana? Really? Urahara-san had those kinds of habits at his age?)

***

In Namimori, Nana got herself a job waitressing at a cafe. There wasn’t a university for her to continue classes, but Nana could make do. She reinvented herself there and worked through her grief and, one day, she met a charming guy who was fierce and silly and protective. He reminded her of home. When he asked, she agreed to marry him.

Maybe it was a bit soon, and maybe he was gone more often than he was able to visit Namimori… Maybe he didn’t ask her many questions because he didn’t want to have to answer any of her own and maybe he insisted on living in the moment but… Well, that was all okay. Nana didn’t mind. She didn’t want to lie, and she could respect that Iemitsu didn’t want to either.

If Iemitsu saw something he liked in the easy, all-accepting home life she could offer him, she herself saw something she liked in the often-absent but devoted love he could offer her. Even if he was gone for years, even if they didn’t speak for months, Nana could trust that when he returned to her home and her bed, Iemitsu would love her still.

For a woman like Nana, who was once a girl called Yuzu, faith like that was everything.

***

There was only one time, over wedding arrangements and with some sort of private tension that she did not understand, that Iemitsu asked about her family.

Nana said, “Ara..? Well, they’re all in Soul Society now, I should think.” She smiled and Iemitsu…

Well, he’d looked sad for a moment, and maybe a little relieved. But also he threw his arms around her, cradling Nana close to his heart, and cried out that he’d be her family now. It was sweet. It made her laugh and Nana thought, _This is okay, isn’t it?_

She was happy, even if it had been years since she’d seen her family, since she and Ichigo had spoken last. She still loved them: Tou-san, and Karin, and Ichigo. She hoped Urahara had proven himself more stubborn than Ichigo, and that whether he was in Karakura or Soul Society or somewhere else, her brother was once again happy. When she saw him next, Nana hoped that Ichigo would be able to look at this life she was building for herself and understand why she’d left. Would tell her he’d passed the years thinking, like herself, _I hope you are still out there somewhere. I hope you are happy._

(It was okay, wasn’t it, Ichi-nii? Wasn’t it okay, under these circumstances, to start a new family?

Ah, Nana hoped so. Iemitsu really did make her so very happy when he was around.)

***

So it was that Akabane Nana became Sawada Nana.

After their marriage, Iemitsu settled her into a beautiful house in Namimori and kissed her handsomely until she was pregnant with it, and then he left. Again and again, he left.

“Ara,” Nana said to her large belly, a twist of a smile on her lips as she watched her silly husband drive away again, “he really does fit into our family, doesn’t he?”

***

Years later, Nana came home with groceries on one arm and her son’s little fingers in the other hand and found a shinigami in her kitchen.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. Her fright settled quickly into delight. “You found me. I always knew you would.”

“Tch, you and that annoying Urahara-san definitely didn’t make it easy. The worst part was he didn’t even try to _hide_ that he knew where you were.”

The shinigami turned away from the photos on Nana’s fridge to scowl at her and Nana could only smile back helplessly, her chest full to bursting with joy. In the face of such an expression, even Karin lost hold of her ire and smiled back.

Karin looked so much younger than Nana now, but she was still her tough big sister. Her dark hair - ah! Nana was glad she had remembered the shade correctly - was longer, but her twin still wore it in a sporty ponytail. Her face was like so much like Nana’s at 25, though now there was a raw scrape on her chin and one cheek that reminded Nana of Karin’s soccer days. Whatever hollow had been loitering around must have been tougher than Karin had anticipated. A zanpakutou with dark wrappings rested at her hip; Nana wondered what it was called.

Her twin had apparently been doing her own examinations. “Nice hair, Yuzu.”

“Thanks!” Nana beamed, wishing her hands were free so she could touch it, could stand next to her sister and hold the ends together to confirm just how close she’d gotten. Nana always had a good memory for those kinds of details, but with Karin here now she could only want to get closer still.

“And who’s this..?”

“Oh!” She looked down at her son, who was chewing on his lip with a familiar nervous expression as he switched his gaze between Nana and Karin. Ahh, Tsuna did get upset so easily, didn’t he? “This is your nephew, Sawada Tsunayoshi. I call him Tsu-kun.”

Karin, who had been in Nana’s home long enough to familiarize herself with the family photos, must surely be unsurprised by this confirmation of blood relation, but she groaned at Nana’s words all the same.

“Goat Face is going to absolutely lose his mind when he hears about this. I’m not telling him,” she said with a familiar scowl. “Not until I get a long term assignment somewhere, where I won’t have to see him for a while afterwards. But, well, congratulations, I guess. He’s cute. I guess. The father looks dumb, but if he treats you okay, it’s fine. He treats you okay?”

“He does.”

“That’s good then.” Karin lapsed into an awkward silence, frowning at Tsuna. Ah, was she trying to think of what to say to him?

Nana laughed. It was good to know some things did not change, even with death and years between them. Karin’s social graces had always been a work in progress.

“Mama,” Tsuna whispered when she looked down at him, clutching the bottom of her skirt and looking close to tears. “Who are you talking to?”

“Oh,” Nana said, taken aback.

“So he can’t see me then,” Karin noted. She looked a little disappointed, but not terribly surprised. A shinigami like Karin could probably sense Tsuna’s reiryoku level.

“Sorry,” Nana said. She stepped past her sister to settle the groceries on the counter, then picked Tsuna up and cuddled him close. “Tsu-kun, did Mama ever tell you about her twin sister?”

“Sister?”

“Mm-hmm. Mama had a sister and a brother!” Nana smiled. “Mama’s sister Karin is here right now visiting. You can’t see her, but maybe one day you’ll be able to.”

“Definitely,” Karin agreed. “I’m not exactly going to keep away now that I’ve found you, and I know the others won’t. If we visit enough he’ll start to see something eventually.” She shrugged. “In the meantime though… I’m finishing up an assignment so I don’t have time to get myself a gigai before I have to go back, but I’ll come in a body next time so you can introduce us properly. It’s about time the kid meets his kickass auntie, right?”

“Right,” Nana beamed, happy that Karin was showing this interest in her new family. “Tsu-kun, Karin says next time she comes, she’ll wear special clothes so you can see her too. You’d like that, right?”

But Tsuna only looked at Karin - or rather, followed Nana’s gaze to what must look like an empty corner of the kitchen to him - and whimpered, turning jerkily to bury his face in the crook of her neck in response. “Ah, well,” she said to Karin, a little helplessly.

Karin seemed pleasantly unbothered by her son’s reaction. “Ichi-nii cried a bunch as a kid too,” she reminded, staring at the back of Tsuna’s head with an expression that suggested children crying was a Fact of Life one must simply learn to live with, and she was determined to master learning it as quickly as possible. “Rukia-san and Renji-san’s kid too. I think they’re just… like that?”

Nana, who has had several years of experience with Tsuna at this point, cannot find fault here. Indeed, children are just Like That.

“Anyway,” Karin continued, still looking at Tsuna curiously, “once I tell the rest where you’re at, Goat Face’ll probably get a gigai from Urahara-san within the day and show up on your doorstep. Kid’ll have no problem seeing _that_ unfortunately. ...Ah, thinking about it, you should let me know when you have free time to try and schedule that disaster. I’ll need to arrange for someone to crowbar him out of here. I will, of course, be on a long-term mission. Somewhere he can’t find me.”

“Right,” Nana agreed.

The idea of her father descending on her home and little family after so long was a little… daunting, but really, she mused, would it be much more different than the times Iemitsu returned home? Probably not. Iemitsu’s co-worker, Lal-san, usually had to call her silly husband multiple times with increasingly loud demands before he would finally depart at the end of his down-time. Isshin would be similar, but she had faith in her siblings’ ability to handle him, even from afar.

Which… brought up the question of the last member of her family. Nana ran her fingers through Tsuna’s hair gently, the clean warm smell of her son in her arms helping to settle her nerves. “And… Ichi-nii?”

“Ah.” Karin scowled slightly. “I’ll work on that. That idiot could’ve found you _ages_ ago, did you know? Urahara-san told me he kept tabs on you for Ichigo, so obviously _he_ knew where you were, but Ichi-baka never let Urahara-san do more than assure him that you were okay. And Urahara-san wouldn’t tell _me_ where you were if Ichigo didn’t say it was okay, which of course he never did. He wouldn’t even help me look for you. He’s all in his head about how you left for a reason and didn’t want to see him. Idiot.” She glanced sharply at Nana then. “That is just him being stupid, right?”

“Ah…” Nana tilted her head a little. “Well, he wasn’t exactly… wrong? At least not about back then.”

She shifted Tsuna to one hip and shrugged at Karin’s questioning look. “I did leave for a reason. And I did want him to stay away, at least at first.” She licked her lips and tried to explain. “It was… hard… after you died, Karin. Ichi-nii was trying, but he wasn’t in a good place and I just… couldn’t help him. Not by myself. Not when I was struggling too…

“Um, but please tell Ichi-nii that things are different now,” she said, trying and managing to bring up an honest smile for her narrow-eyed sister. “I really would like to see him again, and for him to meet Tsu-kun.”

“Yeah, okay,” Karin agreed slowly. “I mean, I would have done it anyway because you’re both apparently _idiots_ , but I’m glad to hear that it won’t upset you or anything.”

“No,” Nana agreed. “I’ll be happy to see Ichi-nii and Tou-san again. Ah, and Urahara-san, one day. I need to thank him for everything… But for now, I’m happy just seeing you again, Karin. I’m glad, really really glad that it was you who found me after all this time.” She beamed at her sister. “Congratulations on becoming a shinigami so quickly as well.”

Karin flushed a little under the praise, her irritation temporarily set aside. “Thanks.”

The two of them probably could have talked for hours in a similar vein, catching up from the years apart, but Tsuna, who had already been rattled by his mother carrying on conversation with thin air, handled hearing the word shinigami very poorly indeed and had a full-blown meltdown in Nana’s arms. He was inconsolable with fright, so Karin left shortly after to return to Soul Society, though she warned that Isshin would be dropping in soon enough.

Tou-san indeed came and, very reluctantly, went.

Karin came again, in the promise gigai.

And then one day, barely a month later, Nana opened the door and it was Ichigo on her doorstep.

***

Her brother, when he finally came to Namimori, looked so much better than the last time she saw him that Nana was crying with the relief of it before she even thought to invite him in.

The brother she’d been unable to get through to, the brother she’d run away from soon stood in his socks in the middle of her cozy home and Nana just stood there while he looked around, awaiting judgement. Ichigo looked at the photos of Sawada Nana’s family and he looked at Sawada Nana’s little crybaby son and he looked at _Nana_ \- and then he broke his fearsome scowl to look gently at her, like he _understood_ , and said quietly, “I’d hoped you were out there somewhere being happy. I just… wanted you to be happy.”

“I was,” Nana said, full of relief, full of faith rewarded. Her face was as scrunched up as Tsuna’s often was with all the tears she was holding back. “I am.”

“Good. Then… I’m glad,” Ichi-nii said, and he smiled at her, “Nana.”

***

Ah.

Something like that…

For a woman like Nana, who _used to be_ a girl called Yuzu, whose own father and twin sister still couldn’t one hundred percent get the distinction... Something like that meant _everything_.

***

So it was that Sawada Nana, who was once a girl called Yuzu, began to receive again into her home those members of her family thought lost to her. And she was able to tell them all quite truthfully when they asked, “Ah, I am so very happy now!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading part 1 of this is experimental, self-indulgent concept fic. Don't think too hard about the timeline please. Appearance and personality-wise, Nana and Yuzu really aren't that dissimilar from one another. And, though I am not overly fond of the trope where Character A marries Character B, who is Very Similar to Character A's same-gender-as-B parent... Uh. That is... exactly what happened here, isn't it?
> 
> Don't judge Yuzu too harshly for leaving Ichigo; she had to look after herself too and Ichigo still had a very stubborn Urahara Kisuke to look after him once he realized what happened. Ah, I didn't tag it because it's so minor, but I really am an Uraichi shipper at heart...
> 
> Also, it really is a stupid joke, but Komatsu Nana plays Akabane Yuu in a romcom j-drama called _Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai_. It gets loosely translated to Defying Kurosaki-kun, but I think it's more something like "I won't do everything Kurosaki-kun says"? Either way, both myself and Urahara thought it was amusing at the time. Sorry, Nana-chan. My humor is bad.
> 
> Please look forward to more with Part II - Reborn and Part III - Tsuna.


End file.
